Lovie Smith says Lavonte David 'will be taken care of'

Lavonte David may be in the final year of his rookie deal, but there's little concern it seems that he won't be getting a new deal sooner than later. At least, not much concern from head coach Lovie Smith, according to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.

"Lavonte will be taken care of,'' Smith told ESPN. "You can go back to any shot that I've given on Lavonte David and how I feel about him. No one loves him more than I do. When I say I, [I] mean we as an organization. He will be taken care of. In time, we'll get this taken care of. Of course there are negotiations going on, but Lavonte hasn't missed a beat.''

The good news is that we know that David isn't holding out. While the Bucs have quite a few young stars that they'll need to get new contracts within the next few seasons, David is likely near the top of that list.